Little Miss soon to be 5 has been helping me create Butterfly Cupcake toppers in preparation for her “Pink & Purple” Butterfly Party next month. A simple and great little project to do with the kids during the holidays. For these toppers we have used scraps of retired Designer Series Paper (DSP) which is double sided, our “Elegant Butterfly” punch (which I think is just beautiful), some sticky strip and tooth picks. Little Miss soon to be 5 has punched out all of the butterflies on her own and we then assemble them together.

If you would like to learn more about this, and other fun projects to encourage creativity in your kids, please give me a call.

With the My Little Valentine offer from Stampin’ Up! you can make beautiful handmade cards for your loved ones for Valentines Day (and other special occasions). Purchase the “My Little Valentine” Stamp Set and receive the “Sealed with Love” Simply Sent Kit FREE

I had a lovely time on Roster at Kindy yesterday making Fathers Day Cards. Some very eager little people had fun, stamping the background of the card and either stamping the Motorbike image or adding the stars…. oh yes and then there was the glue stick. They all love glue sticks so those feature panels are not going anywhere.

The children then got to write their names on the inside and draw a picture for their dad.

Sale-A-Bration* comes but once a year …… I however am still enjoying using the Everyday Enchantment DSP, ribbon and brads and the Elementary Elegance stamp set.

The colours in the Everyday Enchantment DSP are from our current In-Colour range and are simply gorgeous. Very versatile for either cards or scrapbook pages. Here are a couple of 8 x 8 pages showcasing Elementary Elegance DSP. The inspiration for the pages came from Shelli Gardner (Founder & CEO of Stampin’ Up!) www.soshelli.com with a few changes here and there.

I have also used Everyday Enchantment DSP to decorate a journal. This literally took a few minutes to do. Inspiration for the journal came from the Sale-A-Bration Catalogue. I chose to simplify the design and use it as a demo at my Sale-A-Bration workshop. My workshop guest were quite suprised to see how quickly this came together and how effective the finished product was.

*The products in the Sale-A-Bration Catalogue were available from 24 January 2012 – 31 March 2012 and were offered free with purchase of $100 from the current Idea’s Book & Catalogue (IBC). That’s right, for every $100 you spent on IBC products during Sale-A-Bration you could choose 1 free Item (or stamp set) from the Sale-A-Bration Catalogue. Watch out for Sale-A-Bration in 2013.

Cards don’t need to be difficult to be effective. When a friend asked me to make a wedding card for her, it was my perfect opportunity to use the new Love & Laughter set from the gorgeous Autumn-Winter mini catalogue.

By layering Whisper White Card stock, adding dry embossing and silver embossing powder, with a little bling here and there the end result is an elegant Wedding card. Simple yet effective.

After 3 days of somewhat continuous rain, cabin fever started to set it. Miss 4 and Master 1.5 started to niggle at one another. So I decided it was time to make their “Table Top Tent” after all I purchased the fabric close to 3 weeks ago and it was starting to gather dust.

With a bright colour scheme I set about to make ‘circus’ or ‘big top’ themed tent. Midway through my preparation Miss 4 decided she wanted one half to be butterflies and the other half to be a jungle theme. Taking onboard her suggestion, I decided as I was doing the work and I had already purchased brightly coloured fabric I had creative license…. she is still happy with the end result.

After cutting everything to size I literally wasted a couple of hours waiting for the glue to dry. So I started to think of other options to secure the windows. Now no one says Stampin’ Up! products can only be used for Papercraft and Stamping. Down to the craft room and I return with a roll of Sticky Strip some Bashful Blue … Grossgrain ribbon, some jumbo eyelets and my trusty Crop-a-dile. I used the sticky strip to hold the windows and ribbon in place in order to secure the eyelets. There is no doubt the windows are there to stay and now they also look nicely trimmed. I have a new appreciation for the versatility of my Crop-a-dile it made the job so easy. The Bashful Blue ribbon coordinates beautifully with the stripped fabric and provides another use for what is retired product.

With the prep behind me, sometime spent at my (old but recently serviced) sewing machine and Voila, the kids have an inviting place to play inside. Some cushions from the couch, a quilt and they think it’s great, their very own space. It’s like and indoor cubby, which is handy as it is raining again.

**The idea for the Table Top Tent came from an episode of Better Homes & Gardens in late 2011**

Stampin’ Ups! December Frenzy offers up to 50% off selected stamp sets and accessories.

December Frenzy runs from Dec 1 – Dec 31, however all products are limited in quantity at the discounted price and the discount will be removed once the limit is reached. Don’t miss this opportunity, check the list below to see if your favourites make an appearance. Perhaps you could add them to your Christmas wish list.

Should you wish to order during December Frenzy to take advantage of these Never Before Seen Prices, or host a Stampin’ Up! Workshop (and earn your wishlist items as Hostess Benefits), please contact me at E:stampinwithfi@bigpond.com

To view December Frenzy as a full size PDF, click on th following link December Frenzy

Whilst Dad didn’t get to ride his motorbike on Fathers Day, instead spending time with Miss 3 and Master 1. We thought it was only fitting that his card portrayed something that is near and dear to him.

The motorcycle stamp is from the Autumn/Winter Mini catalogue, so unfortunately it is no longer available. I stamped the image with Staz On and then applied some colour using Stampin Pastels and a blender pen. Having seen this in action, Miss 3 is now a fan of using a blender pen and Stampin Pastels.

Need a little colour in your work? I would be only too happy run a workhshop for you to show you how to use products like, Stampin Pastels, Blender Pens, Aqua Painters, Stampin Write Markers & Ink to add colour to your projects. Contact me on: mbl: 0438 057 498 or email: stampinwithfi@bigpond.com